George Orwell

-born in India 1903

-taken to England by the mother
-he hates punitions and the traditions of the public english school
-develops independent mentality and was atheist
-he left english imperialism
-back in london he started to try to live the poverty
-George (english vibes) Orwell (river he liked)
-2 best novels: 1984 and Animal farm
-died of tuberculosis
-deep understanding of english character but also ability of seeing his country from outside
-receptive to new ideas and impressions
-left-wing sympathies
-social themes and realistic use of the language

1984

plot:
-Future world into 3 blocks (eurasia, east asia è oceania)
-Oceania Party led by Big Brother in war with two other blocks.
-Newspeak, language with limited words
-free thought, sex and writing are forbidden.
-Smith writes his thoughts to future generations
-starts to have a relationship with Julia, who’s proving she’s rebel as smith.
-O’brien tells he hates the party and he’s member in brotherhood. Gives a copy of goldstein
book
-Winston is reading it to Julia but soldiers break into the room and arrest them.
-O brien is a Party spy and tortured him for months.
-Smith is sent to the 101 room where he has to fight against his worst fear (rats on his head)
-he gives up and stops loving Julia. Starts to love Big Brother.

Historical backgrounds
state of perpetual war
political atmosphere of the tyrannies in Spain, Germany and Soviet Union
he was against any form of totalitarianism

Setting
Oceania, large country, London
3 segments:
-Inner Party, ruling class 2%
-Outer Party 18-19% of the population educated workers
-Proles: working class

Characters
-sense of loss
-Winston Smith (protagonist), 39 and weak
-desire for moral integrity
-Julia is pessimistic about the party she falls in love with winston
-o’brien (inner party) mysterious character

-Dystopian novel (brain storming)

propaganda
non ethical science
totalitarian powers
alteration of the past
class divides
oppression
loss of individuality
overwhelming technology
perpetual wars
environmental devastation
the rebel
birth control
mass poverty
overpopulation
strong limitations to free education

Utopia (1516)
World introduced by Sir Thomas More.
From the greek “no place, no where”, i described the place in which the novel was settled
(perfect society in a perfect island)
—> everything is managed by the inside,
self-contained community on a Island (related with island of laputa, swift, dystopian)
-Utopia—> no place. It doesn’t exist, but what we dream.
-Dystopia—> bad place. It can exist, terribly negative. Utopia gone wrong, worst distortions

20th century: wars, revolutions, totalitarian regimes create fears. The illusion of perfection
of the man was weaker.

How to recognize a Novel video:

Many people imagined a perfect world (Utopia), in that moment the dystopian world was
born. (Swift, Gulliver travels, island).
-industrial technology—> workers slaves
-promise of a liberation (totalitarian regimes as fascism and communism)—> dystopian
society.

-technological advancement—> poor workers and war (bad conditions)

-freedom and individuality eliminated
-1984→ totalitarian power (critic)

today: dystopia represent inequality, climate change. Can become the ruin of a Ideal World
Fiction or reality? Does it really exist?
-Syria conflict, Indian overpopulation,
-nazist birth control—> create the perfect human being (Arian)
-environmental devastation
-totalitarian powers
-lack of education

Classic dystopian novels:

“The Time Machine” H.G.,
scientist who invented a machine to travel in the future.
He meets different societies, so a community divided in 2 parts:
1- Elo—> they live on the surface of the earth, they’re not doing anything over there. They
are small and kind, without differences among women and men.
2-Morlock—>they live in the underground, similar to monkeys, strong and quick. They
represent the real power, they control everything on the earth.

“Brave new world”

Dystopia of a new society where children are created in laboratories and then they’re divided
in different types of lives and they only need sex and drugs in they lives to be happy

“Animal farm”

“1984”
Orwell imagined a future with no emotion except the fear and he said that “it depends on
you, don’t let it happen”, that’s the aim of Orwell’s book

“Farheneit 451”
Reading is considered a crime (illegal)
you couldn’t even have books or remember what they said. In order to avoid
free-thinking= confusion for the government.
Staying Ignorant is better, no suffering.
Reality blurred by screens (that reflect the central power) in every house
Protagonist is a fire-fighter that burns books

“Lord of flies”
a group of guys after a plane crash found themselves on an island. They gotta rebuild a
society. 2 groups, 2 leaders (opposite characteristics) fighting each other to have the power
of the island.
—> Loss of innocence. They have to fight if they wanna survive

“Ready player one”

today's dystopian novel.
Very modern society with all the negative aspects this can bring. People have more than one
life. They’re human but they can have Avatars, so a virtual life—> super drug because it
becomes the real life for them
Aim dystopia—> to let people be aware about the dangers.

The handmaid’s Tale”

feminist book about birth control.
Main theme is reproduction in a dystopian society in a narrow future.
People have lost the capacity to reproduce because of pollution and radiation.
Only a few women are brainwashed and closed in a special centers because they are the
only left ones fertile.
“Never let me go”

Visual art:
Gowanus, name of a canal in Brooklyn and all the water here is extremely polluted.
Meaning: what may appear a dystopian thing is actually real, this means that dystopia can
exist and it is negative

Video:
-horror of the city
-animal condition in present and future
-a dystopia for someone could be a utopia.